Oatmeal Bar

We are at The Lake with friends (a fellow BMCC member, actually) and just had a wonderful breakfast—an oatmeal bar. Fun, easy, healthy....what's not to like.

All you do is make a batch of old fashioned oatmeal and set out any type of toppings you want. This is what we had:

blueberries

bananas

raisins

brown sugar

milk

What a great breakfast for a crowd. The kids loved making their own breakfast.

TorteMeyerllini Salad

This is a recipe from one of our members. I can't wait to try it. I love pasta salad and this sounds fabulous. Especially, like she says, on a hot summer night. I think I may need to try it in at the lake too! Sounds perfect.

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I have made this for years for work potlucks and family functions and I get asked time and again for the recipe - it's hilariously easy and this is really good with some fresh bread on hot summer nights when you don't feel like cooking!

TorteMeyerllini Salad
 
Cook a family size cheese tortellini package (such as Buitoni or
Safeway Select brand) according to package instructions.
 
In a large bowl, combine the following with the cooked tortellini:
 

• Slightly less than half a pint of halved cherry or grape tomatoes
  
• 1 small can sliced black olives (drained)
  
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts (NOT the kind in marinade)
  
• About 1/2 cup or more of cubed mozzarella cheese (fresh mozz if consuming salad within a few hrs of making it, otherwise it falls apart once the dressing soaks in)
  
• About a cup of steamed and cooled broccoli (steaming in those new Ziplok steamer microwave bags is awesome and a huge time saver)
• Girard's Olde World Italian dressing (to taste - usually about 1/2+ bottle)
  

 
I put everything in a large tupperware bowl with a lid, and then give it a good shake. Refrigerate until ready to use. May need to add more dressing if it has been sitting for a bit. The addition of shredded roasted chicken would be good, or diced/cubed salami.
 
Enjoy!!

Menu from BMCC Blog Recipes

I'm trying to get back to planning my menus. I thought I would do something a little fun to start. I pulled recipes only from the BMCC blog to make my menu this week.

Some of these will be new recipes for my family. They are ones I've been wanting to try. They come recommended from the BMCC, so I'm sure they will be a hit.

Monday

*Chicken Wings

*Broccoli Cole Slaw Salad

Rice

Tuesday

*Chicken with Rosemary & Lemon Salt

Green Beans

French Bread or Rolls

Wednesday

*Easy Enchiladas (using left over chicken from Tuesday night)

Spanish Rice

Green Salad

Thursday

*Mini Shrimp Scampi & Angel Hair Pasta

Green Salad

Friday

Left Overs

Saturday

*Taco Ring

Sunday

Father's Day - We're having dinner with my brother and sister and their families.

* recipe from the BMCC blog

As I was planning my menu I realized we need more recipes on here. I will be going through all my old emails and adding recipes from the group. Really.

Magical & Sinfully Good Peanut Butter Cookies

My sister-in-law is in love...again. No not another man, nor a new baby, or another cat or dog. This time it's peanut butter cookies.

The recipe comes from a friend who recently shared a tasty plate with her. Here is the recipe. I can't wait to try them. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

All you need is

2 cups of creamy peanut butter

2 cups of sugar

2 eggs

That's it!!! They are magical and sinfully good.

Bake them at 350˚ for 10 minutes and enjoy.

Ice Cream Cake

This is my sister-in-law's Ice Cream Cake. Easy, fast, yummy. What more do you want for a birthday cake?

You need about 24 ice cream sandwiches. Lay out one layer of them in a 9x13 pan. Next add your choice of caramel or chocolate fudge sauce. Then you can add anything from toasted almonds to cut up candy bars on top of the sauce. Add another layer of sandwiches and then cover the whole thing with whipped cream. You can get fancy and pipe stars or flowerettes along the edges.

Put in your freezer for a few hours of even the day before. Let thaw a tiny bit before serving for easy cutting.

Easy Enchiladas

Do you have left over chicken? Use it to make chicken enchiladas.

This is my sister’s recipe. Her husband and daughter love them. Enjoy.

Easy Enchiladas

9x13 Backing Dish
Small Soft Taco size tortilla's (both corn and flour are good)
1 can Enchilada sauce (mild Rosaria brand isn't spicy-mild is spicy with all other brands)
1 bag Mexican style pre-shredded cheese
 
Grease pan. Take tortilla shell fill with
pre-cooked chicken (break up into small pieces or
shred), ground beef, steak. Roll up - put in pan until
you fill pan. Open sauce pour over all the
enchiladas (doesn't have to cover perfectly)
Top with cheese. Heat in oven 20 to 25 min at 350˚ pre-heated
oven.

Corn Casserole

My step-grandmother made this for Easter dinner. Everyone loved it. We all look forward to having it again.

Corn Casserole

1 can cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cube butter, melted
1 c. sour cream
4 tbsp. chopped onions
2 large eggs
1 pkg. Jiffy Corn Bread Mix

Mix altogether and bake 45 min. at 350 degrees

Dream Dinners are a Dream

I have not posted on this blog in so long. I'm so sorry. If anyone even reads this anymore. It's great to just look up recipes.

I have a friend who had told me about Dream Dinners about a year ago. I never got around to going. I did find one very close to me and was interested in trying it, but just never made the time. Lately, I haven't even been planning my weekly dinner menus. It's been horrible. I'm hoping to get back to that this Summer.

Anyway, I finally went to Dream Dinners and made about 10 meals. Well, 9 dinners and 1 dessert. We love them! The dinners are great. The girls have loved them and talk about easy! Oh my gosh! If you haven't heard of one of these places (there are several different companies - all the same idea) they're great. Look one up!

Basically what you do is go in or online and register for the meals you want to make. They usually will have some type of minimum they want you to purchase. For example I had to order at least 36 servings. Some meals are 3 servings some are 6 servings.

You go to the store at your scheduled day and time. Everything has been prepped and cut for you. All you do is follow the receipt and drop the ingredients in the zip-lock bags. The employees come around and clean up after you, help answer any questions and refill ingredients. Once you have a meal bagged up you put it on your shelf in the refrigerator. When you're done an employee will tell you "Go ahead and have some coffee and try our sample. I'll get all your meals into your cooler bag for you. Let me know when you are ready and I'll take it out to the car for you." Take it out to the car! Did you read that?! How fun is this?! I loved it!

It took me about an hour total. Including sitting and having my coffee and trying the dessert. YUM, BTW. I'm hooked. I'm ready to go back and make more meals. I still have several in my freezer, but when I'm low, I'm going back.